Jay Paterno book on father’s Penn State career set for September release

Jay Paterno’s bid for for lieutenant governor is over, but he still could have his hands full this fall — with a book tour.

Jay Paterno talks about inspiring voters to get to the polls in May during the Centre County Democratic Committee spring breakfast on Saturday, April 5, 2014, at the Mountain View Country Club. Paterno received a standing ovation for his speech.
CDT file photo

Paterno’s book about his father, the late coach Joe Paterno, is set to be released Sept. 1, according to its listing on Amazon.com. Jay Paterno also revealed details on Twitter of the book, which he has been working on since his father’s death in 2012.

“There will be a book tour this fall — looking forward to it,” Paterno wrote on Twitter.

The biography, titled “Paterno Legacy: Enduring Lessons from the Life and Death of My Father,” will touch on Joe Paterno’s private life and his legendary coaching career. Jay Paterno spent 17 seasons on Penn State’s coaching staff, working alongside his father.

The publisher is Triumph Books, a company that specializes in sports publishing.

“A memorial to one of the greatest coaches in college football history, the book also reveals insightful anecdotes from his son and coaching pupil,” according to the book’s description on Amazon.com

The book’s forward was written by Nike Chairman Phil Knight, who defended the late coach at his public memorial service in 2012, and who has condemned the Freeh report’s characterization that Paterno participated in a cover-up of child abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

According to the book’s description on Amazon.com, Jay Paterno confronts the Sandusky scandal and argues that his father was “an innocent man convicted by the media for a crime in which he had no part.”

Jay Paterno is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the NCAA and Penn State to overturn the sanctions against the university.

He also made a brief foray into state politics when he announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in this spring’s primary election. But he withdrew after a challenge by a competitor who said some signatures on Paterno’s nominating petitions were not valid.